Texture preferences of Chinese, Korean and US consumers: A case study with apple and pear dried fruits

Runrou Wong, Seulgi Kim, Seo Jin Chung, Mi Sook Cho

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

The present study aimed to understand the drivers of liking dried apple and pear chips with various textures among Chinese (n = 58), Korean (n = 58), and US (n = 56) consumers. The possibility of hedonic transfer from snack texture preferences to fruit-chip texture preferences was also investigated among Chinese and Koreans. Fourteen fruit-chip samples with four textural properties (crispy, puffy, soft, and jelly-like) were selected. Consumers rated their level of liking for each sample, and then they performed hedonic-based projective mapping with the same samples. In the hedonic texture transfer investigation, consumers rated their acceptance of nine snacks with various textures but possessing similar textures to those of dried fruit samples. The data were analyzed by ANOVA and multiple factor analysis. Most consumers disliked samples with a soft or jelly-like texture, while liked samples with a crispy texture. Cross-cultural differences were observed in the liking of puffy samples, with both Chinese and Koreans liking puffy samples as much as crispy ones for their melting characteristics in the mouth, while US consumers perceived the puffy samples as being Styrofoam-like and disliked them. Hedonic transfer was observed from snack texture preferences to fruit-chip. Individual texture preferences for snacks seem to significantly affect the texture preferences for fruit chips.

Original languageEnglish
Article number377
JournalFoods
Volume9
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding: This research was carried out with the support of “Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science & Technology Development (Project No. PJ012416)” Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Consumer liking
  • Cross-culture
  • Fruit chips
  • Hedonic based projective mapping
  • Hedonic transfer

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